After returning from the National Investment Conference and
seeing the army of bankers with money in hand, I have no doubt
that our industry is going to continue to grow in a big way. As a
partner of a new start-up company, I am always looking for ways
in which to distinguish Aegis from the other guys. We have
started a campaign entitled "Beyond Pretty Buildings,"
in which we encourage staff, board members, partners and
customers to offer ideas to enhance our buildings and allow Aegis
to compete well into the next century. These suggestions come in
many forms, including staff retention, staff recruitment,
compensation, building design, pricing and technology.
Speaking of which, several months ago in my column, I
complained about the lack of technology in our industry. Then,
coincidentally, I ran into Jerry Meyer, president of Sunbridge
Assisted Living, which is the assisted-living division of Sunrise
Healthcare Corp., Albuquerque, N.M. Jerry, I discovered, has been
putting together one of the most innovative software packages
that our industry has ever seen. The more I learned about the
program, the more I thought I should share the information with
the rest of the industry. Therefore, I decided to interview Jerry
and offer him the opportunity to highlight the software's most
innovative features. Before I begin, it should be noted that
Jerry and Sunbridge have developed this software for public sale
and distribution, but neither will receive royalties from sales
of the program.
Clark: What was your motivation for developing this
innovative software system?
Meyer: I have seen a significant amount of slippage in
our industry with regard to tracking staff hours and time. Our
care managers are trained to be service oriented and provide what
the customer requests. The problem is that it may be above and
beyond what the customer has agreed to pay for based on the
service agreement. This can be a "pathway to failure"
where the resident is concerned; true care is then masked and we
do not have a good indication of the inch milers that are needed
to track the needs of residents. Resident care then suffers,
besides losing revenues and having increased staffing costs.
Clark: Will this system have a benefit for the family?
Meyer: Yes, the industry as a whole does not do a good
job of giving families the information they need in order to
understand what they pay for and the value it has for the
resident. This system will show families how the care their
family member receives relates to cost. It gives detailed and
incremental adjustments that allow the family to absorb how the
costs increase.
Clark: How is this different from the current level
systems and points systems that are currently out there being
used?
Meyer: First of all, this is the first totally
integrated system in our industry. It is much more than just an
assessment tool or cost-analyses form. It takes residents and
starts them in the database from the first marketing contact and
follows them through to the move-out process. The current
assessment systems out there are not very customer responsive. It
is synonymous with a restaurant serving a five-course French
dinner and the customer saying, "I don't want or need course
number two." The current level systems really say too bad,
everything is bundled together and that's what you get whether
you need it or not. This ends up with other residents supporting
higher-acuity people in the same level. With the points system
you are dinged with every minute of care, which promotes a very
unfriendly type of care attitude toward the customer. Our system
offers a tailored program of six levels that allow you to mix and
match services and pay only for what you need.
Clark: Can you walk us through the system and point out
some of the features?
Meyer: There are four modules to this Windows-based
program. The first module begins with a marketing piece or the
client-tracking module. It takes the resident from the first
point of contact and requests all the normal information--such as
history, religion, emergency information, etc. It also allows for
unlimited comments to be entered into fields.
The second module is the assessment module. Initially, this
module is set-up to allow a non-clinical person to do an
abbreviated assessment of the resident, allowing the family and
resident to get a ballpark idea of what the total cost will be.
Once the resident has committed to moving in, a registered nurse
does a complete clinical assessment along with the physician
assessment before an accurate charge is determined. The
assessment reviews time allocations and frequencies attached to
each task. These tasks, based on complexity, are assigned to the
appropriate staff members, such as the care manager, L.P.N. or
R.N. Once all the elements have been entered--tasks, time
allocation, frequency and staff person responsible--the program
determines a charge. This assessment is then the basis for a
service agreement and a care plan.
That leads into our third piece of the equation--the accounts
receivable and accounts payable portions of the system. The
system will actually print out a detailed listing of what
services or tasks are being provided and the costs associated
with those services. It then prints out a small statement that
includes the company's mission statement. Families can then see
exactly what services are being provided--not only in terms of
tasks but also by frequency--and who is providing those tasks.
This is a very positive marketing attribute of the system.
Families are less likely to question these charges since they are
clearly defined. From this format the system generates a working
rent roll that is used by staff as a financial instrument.
The last component is the scheduling piece of the system. This
is one of the most important and most challenging pieces of the
software. It is the piece that eliminates the slippage factor.
Based on the assessment and service plan, each day a schedule is
printed for every position. This ties everything together--the
assessment, the schedule and the charge. If a task was requested
that was not on the schedule, a new assessment would need to be
completed, allowing for the adjustment. The system also mandates
assessments after the first 30 days, every 90 days thereafter, or
as a change in condition necessitates.
The system will even track the resident through move-out,
asking pertinent questions during the process, even so much as
reminding the staff to collect the resident's keys.
Clark: The system sounds very comprehensive. Will it
also encompass ancillary services?
Meyer: Yes, it also has a segment for pharmacy, which
we are not currently using because it is not compatible with our
current system.
Clark: What is the current status of the system and
when would it be ready for sale to the general public?
Meyer: We are currently testing it in our Denver
property. We want to make absolutely sure it is debugged before
we allow it to be sold to the public. We feel that this process
should be complete by the spring of 1998 and go on sale some time
after that.
Clark: What should our readers do that are interested
in purchasing the system or finding out more information about
this software?
Meyer: They should call Steve Lacy in Management
Information Systems at Sunbridge Assisted Living, (505) 858-4918.
So it looks like our industry is starting to get more
automated and involved in upgrading its ideas. It will take
people like Jerry Meyer, whose innovation and courage to spend
the money on good ideas, to truly make a difference to those of
us who provide care on a daily basis. We cannot grow as an
industry if we constantly repeat tired ideas. Our hats off to
Jerry and the ownership of Sunbridge, who unselfishly built this
system for the benefit of the industry. We shall all benefit.
 Dwayne J. Clark is a managing
member, president and CEO of Aegis Assisted Living, a start-up
assisted-living company based in Redmond, Wash. With more than 13
years of assisted-living experience, Mr. Clark is a former
executive vice president of Sunrise Assisted Living, a founding
member of the Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) and
president of NorALFA, the regional affiliate of ALFA. Within the
next five years, Aegis Assisted Living plans to build 20-25 homes
throughout the western United States, emphasizing "visionary
care" for assisted living and Alzheimer's residents.
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